Giant 31" Darth Vader figure

[Laspector]

After looking at these mods I think I am planning to do these also (mine should arrive tomorrow or Thursday). ob1al, can you tell us where you got this mesh? I have some mesh left over from re doing the frown on my stormtrooper helmet but it is a black rubber mesh that is basically window screen, or I was thinking of just actually using metal window screen. However window screen is a lot smaller weave than what you are using. Any thoughts? I will also be wanting to re do the robe, I guess I will be checking out the fabric section in the local stores this weekend.

Also, can you give us a little more in depth tutorial on how you fixed the shoulder joints?

Does the shoulder armor come off? How are you attaching the robe underneath it?

EDIT: I think I may have found a better mesh than the window screen. I found one of those pencil holder caddies that is made of a nice wire mesh....Might work but since I won't actually have the figure for a day or two, I don't know how big the "mouth vent" slots are on ol' big daddy V yet....

 

[ob1al]

Window screen won't work as the mesh is too small. You need kind if a microphone mesh. I bought a sheet of the right size metal mesh from B&Q.

The armour is not removable it is molded onto the piece, so I cut my inner robe to go under the belt then end at the edge of the armour, glued into place at the top.

To fix the joints, I glued the joints, cut plastic pieces to the exact size of those sections and glued them over the existing armour, then repainted.

Hope this makes sense?

 

[Laspector]

Yeah, I kinda thought that about the window screen, but I'm thinking this mesh pencil box-thing may work. It looks about the same size weave as you are using. I'm just hoping it doesn't just fall apart when I try to cut it into the little itty bitty strips.

I will shop for black cloth-- or was thinking about just maybe cutting up a black concert t-shirt for the robe? Probably not, but it's a thought. Did you replace the robe from just the waist up or did you replace the whole thing?

Tell me, how hard was it to shorten the chain? Any advice on how to do that?

 

[ob1al]

Replace the whole thing so that the inner robe and cape match.

I wouldn't recommend using a cotton fabric (t-shirt) - you need something substantial and wool-like - a fine black felt is what I'd suggest. Also a t-shirt isnt big enough. It's suprising how much fabric you need to make the cloth parts. Get 2 metres.

 

[ob1al]

Finito!

I'm happy with how he turned out. I look forward to seeing what other mods are possible and what you guys come up with. GREAT base figure, for the price, size and sculpt it's a no-brainer. And it was fun to work on.

Lapector - shoot me a PM and I'm happy to send you some accurate scale mesh.

 

[judgedredd]

Looks great well done!

 

[KevVader]

Sweet Al!

Checked amazon.ca and there's some jackwagon selling one for $395!! Little bit of a gouging!

 

[Laspector]

Just got mine yesterday. WOW!!! This thing is MASSIVE!!!:eek Can't wait until the weekend to start trying to do some mods!!

This thing is so big, I am afraid people are going to think I have compensation issues!:lol

 

[Laspector]

How did you get the cape off? I see that it seems to put on before the head was attached. Did you just cut it off or does the head detach somehow? Also, is the robe part attached to the inner part of the belt or is it attached to the figure itself?

I found a very thin velour cloth that looks great and I really want to use it, but I don't want to cut up the original until I get a little more advice. Also, how are you attaching the chain back to the new cape? What type of glue are you using to glue the robe fabric to the plastic?

Any particular type of plastic being used to mod the shoulders? I assume it must be a very thin plastic, yes? Did you find a specific silver paint that matched the original color or did you repaint the entire shoulder armor?

 

[Lost21stJedi]

Got mine yesterday. Going to be doing the mods that I have seen here this week. Going to be my first attempt at doing anything like this.

Only place for it right now, going to have to rearrange some things when it's done.

 

[ob1al]

The lower inner robe is attched to the belt. You have to pop the belt off from the front, under the buckle. There is a small rubber bung glued into place, so just pry it away carefully and the whole belt and inner robe comes off in one piece. Then remove the robe from the inside of the belt by pulling off the small plastic stoppers.

The main cape is tucked under his neck, inside the figure. You just have to remove the chain and give it a bit of force and it comes away quite easily.

I sewed the chain onto the new cape with black thread, onto the inside 'collar' part of the cape.

Yes, thin but strong plastic works great for the armour mod. I used a clear plastic sheet I had, but I'd bet an empty plastic coke bottle would work perfectly. Clear is good for getting your pieces cut precisely - I held the plastic over the armour pieces and traced the curves with a sharpie, then cut them out and glued them into place. I used superglue on this part, worked fine. Oh, be sure to glue his arms into position beforehand! Make sure it's a nice strong bond by adding glue into the shoulder joint. You don't want the arms moving later and cracking the newly added and painted armour pieces (happened to me and had to redo one side!). So plenty of glue!

For the robe glue, superglue won't work as it will stain the cloth and make it brittle. I used a contact adhesive.

Finally - yes, I repainted the entire shoulder armour by masking the sections off and using a rattle-can.

 

[Lear60man]

I saw one at the Rose Bowl Swap Meet.....$75. Kinda neat for $45 not $75.

 

[Amish Trooper]

I see them for 56 shipped on Amazon

 

[Lost21stJedi]

Got mine for $53 and change shipped from Amazon.

 

[Laspector]

Thanks ob1al. Very informative. :thumbsup I will be getting on these mods very soon!

 

[Brent M]

Thinking about ordering this from Amazon. Is there anyone here in the U.S. I could send it to for mods to make it more accurate? If so, please PM me.

 

[Laspector]

I haven't had a chance to do any mods yet but I did find that my voice activated R2-D2 is almost the perfect scale to go beside this beast.

 

[James Kenobi 1138]

At Walmart:

 

[Lynn TXP 0369]

Yep, our Walmart has them for $29.97, not on clearance though...
Lynn

 

[Lynn TXP 0369]

I just got mine tonight. This thing is awesome!!

This thing is soo fantastic and the sculpt is great, Why can't Hasbro do some thing like this? Maybe they should take note and learn.
Lynn